Arriva London runs the route 48 service from Walthamstow Central to London Bridge

Arriva London is proud and delighted to be operating the recently awarded route 48 TfL contract, running between Walthamstow Central and London Bridge.

The new contract, which started on 25th February from Ash Grove garage in Hackney, uses a mixture of New Routmaster hybrid and conventional diesel double-deck vehicles. Later on this year, the route will operate fully with New Routemaster buses.

To accommodate the introduction of the route, over seventy new drivers were needed, with some drivers volunteering to transfer from other Arriva London routes to drive the twenty-five buses.

Image supplied courtesy of Colin Stannard

Presenting a continuous and uninterrupted changeover from the previous bus operator to Arriva London was a major requirement, so a complex plan had been in place for months leading up to the change.

Arriva London’s Commercial Director, Peter Batty, said:

"It has been a tremendous team effort across our business to prepare for this contract with new drivers recruited and a complex cascade of buses, all to be in the right place at the right time. Our experience of starting routes 157 and 333 in south London in the last few months proved a great learning curve with new contract mobilisation, so we are confident that route 48 will settle down in the same way to provide our customers with the high standard of service they expect."

driver Vanburn

Buses on route 48 run for twenty-one hours of the day, with the first bus leaving Walthamstow Central just after 5am, providing a service that runs every twelve minutes during the day.

To hear what the drivers think about the new route, we spoke with some of them during the first week of its operation, including driver Vanburn:

"I volunteered to come over from our route 106. The new route is nice, as are the passengers. I had to do some ‘type’ training for the New Routemaster, but that just enhanced the experience. I like it.”

driver Craig

Driver Amey commented:

“I’ve only been on the route for two days, but it’s good. I was on route 254 for a year, and I changed over to route 48. It’s good like that. I do like the new route".

Craig, another of the route 48 drivers, explained:

"The route is lovely. I’m really enjoying it. It’s a long route, but I find it relaxing. I’ve been a driver with Arriva London for nearly six years now, and it’s the best job I’ve ever had."

If you’d like to start a career as a driver with Arriva London, and drive any of our many routes, please click here to apply.

The introduction of all new Hybrid vehicles on route 249, which Arriva London starts operating this Saturday, underlines one of our key brand values - ‘Great customer experience - We keep our customers happy every day’.